


they used to shout my name (now they whisper it)

by ihadadate



Series: everybody wants to rule the world [2]
Category: The Pacific (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Death, Derogatory Language, Historical, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, War, World War II, all of you are going to hate me, last part is short asf but it's gonna be expanded...i aint sayin no more tho, leckie's squad is mentioned in this btw, matt is a good noodle and a good friend, matt is actually based on someone i know in real life i just realized this, matt is getting edgy, not that i blame u i hate myself too :), spin off fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-04-07 22:27:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4280253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ihadadate/pseuds/ihadadate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matthew Klein was nineteen years old when he signed up for the Marines. While he serves in the Pacific, his younger sister, Madison, is in Europe. This is Matt's story. Spin off to "We're On Each Other's Team" and part of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" verse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1: Matt's Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a spin off of a sorts to my Band of Brothers one. While Matthew is in the Pacific, one of his younger sisters (Madison) is in Europe. This chapter isn't very long but that's okay. I don't think this story is going to be as long as my BOB one. It all depends, really. The title for this comes from Lorde's "Yellow Flicker Beat".

When Matthew Klein, Jr. had heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor, he knew that he had to sign up as soon as he could. It was the good and honorable thing to do.

The next day after the bombing on Pearl Harbor, Matthew went to go sign up with a few of his buddies. Matthew signed up to be a part of the Marines, who were said to be the toughest of them all. Matthew wanted to be with them. He wanted to fight.

Matthew was only nineteen when he signed up to be a part of World War II.

After he told his family about what he had done, Matthew received three different reactions: silence, sobbing, and anger. The silence came from his father and his youngest sister. His mother and youngest brother began to cry (however their mother reacted, the youngest Klein would act the same way). The anger came from his other sister.

When Madison Klein heard what her brother had said, she stomped upstairs. Matthew heard the door to her bedroom slammed closed. This took their father and Morgan—who was Madison's twin—out of their trances.

"Where did Madison go?" Morgan asked, looking around.

Matthew sighed. "She went upstairs. She's mad at me."

Without saying anything else, Matthew went upstairs to his sisters' room. He knocked on the door once, twice. She didn't answer. He waited for a moment, wondering if he should just walk in. He decided to test the waters and he slowly opened the door. He could see her silhouette curled up on the bed. He gulped.

"Madison?"

No answer.

"Madison?"

"Go away, Matthew. I don't want to talk with anyone right now," Madison croaked. Matthew didn't say anything as he slowly walked to her bed, sitting on the edge of it so he could talk to her. He studied her features. Her bright, blue eyes were trimmed red and he could tell that she was crying.

"Madison, please understand that I have to do this," Matthew started to speak. "I have to do this for our country. I have to do it for our family. If I sign up, I get money. If I get money, I can send it back here." The Kleins weren't the poorest, but they were definitely not the richest either.

Matthew watched as Madison slowly sat up against her bed frame. "Matthew, I do understand. I just don't like that you're leaving us. I don't like it one bit," Madison took a deep breath. "You're being shipped out into a foreign land. You could get hurt. I'm scared that you're going to  _die_  and if you did, what would happen to us? Mother's heart would absolutely shatter. We would all break. I couldn't bear it." Madison started to hyperventilate at this point and Matthew wrapped his arms around his younger sister.

 _So that's what she was afraid of,_  Matthew thought to himself.  _She's afraid that I am going to_   _die._

Matthew knew that there was a good chance of him getting killed out there. But he wouldn't voice his fears to his little sister. He had already hurt her with his decision.

After a long moment of silence, Matthew pulled back to look down at his sister. He stared into the blue eyes that were identical to his own. All the Klein children had the same blue eyes, but it seemed to appear that Madison and Morgan had the brightest pair out of all four of them.

"Madison, I will not die out there, okay? I promise. I am going to survive this war and return home to everyone here." Matthew held out his pinky finger. "Pinky promise."

Madison gave a small giggle. This made Matthew smile. She wrapped her small pinky finger around his, sealing their deal. "Okay."

It was silent between the two before Madison asked him what he signed up for.

"The Marines," Matthew answered.

"The Marines?" Madison asked. "That's…that's good, I guess. I hear they're stone cold killers."

"And where did you hear that from?"

"From Ryan White."

Matthew couldn't help but laugh. Ryan White was a boy in Madison and Morgan's grade that did nothing but annoy the living hell out of Madison. "And why would you listen to him? I thought you hated him."

"Oh, I do," Madison verified. "His old man was a marine. At least, that's he told us." Madison paused for a moment, scrunching up her eyebrows. "You're right. Why did I listen to him? I can't stand him!"

Matthew laughed at his little sister's declaration. This was something he would most definitely miss while he was away from home.

* * *

 

Matthew left Dayton not long after he signed up. He was shipped out to California for his basic training. He mostly stayed to himself on the train ride there and for the first day or so at camp. During his time there, he was assigned to a motor squad. This is how he met Romus Valton Burgin and Merriell Shelton. Matthew found out that they were both from the south. Burgin was from Texas while Shelton was from Louisiana.

"You're a northern boy, huh? Never met one before," Merriell Shelton said one day.

"I'm from Ohio. That's in the Midwest," Matthew corrected.

"It's still up north," Shelton bit at him. Merriell Shelton was a man with bronze colored skin and black, curly hair. He had a monotonous accent. "Are the people nice up there?"

"I suppose," Matthew shrugged. "What about the people down in Louisiana?"

"Fucking terrible," Shelton answered, taking a long drawl from his cigarette. "They all hate me there. It don't bother me, though. I hate them too."

"How come?" Burgin asked. He was drifting on and off in their conversations.

"They're white and I ain't. Simple as that. It ain't just the white folks. I don't enjoy my family's company all too well, either," Shelton answered. "Any of you boys got family?"

Matthew didn't listen to Burgin's response because he was too busy thinking about his own family.

"What about you, Matt? Do you got anybody?"

Matthew shot his head back up, not realizing he was drooping. "I do, yeah. I'm the oldest out of four. I have twin sisters, Madison and Morgan. They're both fourteen—"

"They're both fourteen? I'd never knew," Shelton interrupted.

"—and a younger brother who is six. His name is Michael," Matthew elected to ignore Shelton's sarcastic statement. So what, he messed up. It happens.

"Aren't your sisters' names male names?" Burgin piped up.

Matthew couldn't hold back his sigh. "Yeah. I guess our parents just really wanted boys. Speaking of which, I got a letter from my family the other day. I guess Madison joined the Red Cross or something."

"I thought you said your sisters were fourteen? The both of them," Shelton said, hiding a smile as Matthew scowled at him.

"They are. I guess Madison lied about her age," Matthew shrugged and got up. The other two Marines followed suit.

"Hey, Klein, I got a question," Shelton said.

"Go for it."

"Is all of your family as tiny as you?"

"Fuck off, Shelton."

The training was hard and tough. They had to get up before the sun did. They ran for a couple miles. They had to do obstacle courses. They were drilled in hard and it went from before sunrise till well after sunset. Matthew had never hated anything more in his entire life.

Well, that was, until he got a letter from his mother and Morgan one day.

"Klein!" someone shouted in the loud mess hall.

"Over here," Burgin called out. Matthew rose his hand so the letter runner could find him.

"You Matthew Klein, Jr.?" the runner asked.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Here you go," the mail runner handed him two letters and before Matthew could tell give him thanks, the runner ran off to go find someone else.

"Who sent you those letters, Klein?" Shelton asked as he dug into his food.

Matthew shuffled the envelopes. "They're from…my mother and sister. It's Morgan," Matthew quickly identified his youngest sister's handwriting. Matthew suddenly got a feeling, one that didn't feel too good.

Matthew opened up his mother's letter first, then his sisters. His mother's could be summarized as: the family misses you, how he was holding up and if he was being treated right at boot camp. She also shared neighborhood news. Morgan's was similar. She said that he missed her big brother, wondering how he was doing and if there were any cute men there (as a joke of course, but absolutely  _not_ ), complaints about the youngest Klein, school, and acquaintances. But both letters, however, gave him a nasty surprise. His mother and sister both wrote about how Madison went down to Toccoa, Georgia and to make a long story short she was now a paratrooper, apparently.

"WHAT?!"

The mess hall went dead silent as Matthew rose, yelling. He gripped onto the letters tightly. His little sister was now officially a part of the United States Army? There was no fucking way. That was—

He felt someone yank him back down into his seat. It was Burgin who had done so.

"What's wrong?" Burgin asked. Matthew couldn't answer for a moment. He was too angry to give a response.

"Hey, Klein, are you alright? You're looking kind of pale," Shelton offered.

Matthew took a deep breath. Finally, he answered.

"It's my sister, Madison. She…I guess she joined the paratroopers."

"…What?"

"Apparently my sister is now a fucking paratrooper. Mom didn't go into much detail about it, but Morgan did. Apparently they messed up Madison's orders. She's now a medic-slash-paratrooper or some shit. I'm not really sure. But she's training for both medicine and combat. Combat medicine. Yeah, that'll do."

No one said anything else after that. Later that night in their bunks, while Matthew scribbled a very furious letter to Madison, Shelton stopped by Matthew's bed. Oh, God, what the hell did  _he_  want?

"Hey, Klein?"

Matthew ignored him. He still scribbled out his letter. He hoped Madison would be able to read it. Knowing his little sister, she would be able to. She was a bookworm in the family.

"Klein," Shelton started again.

Finally, Matthew looked up from his letter. He suddenly jolted back as he realized how close Shelton was.

"Jesus Christ, Merriell, don't you know what personal space is?"

"You weren't answering me," was all Shelton offered. "Now, I wanted to tell you something."

"What?"

"I read an article or two about those paratroopers, once," Shelton started. Matthew noticed that his fingers were twitching. That wide, fish-eyed boy was up to something, Matthew just knew it. "They jump out of the sky and into combat, yeah?"

"…Yes." The thought of Madison jumping out of a plan actually scared Matthew, and it wasn't only because he was afraid of heights himself. That would mean she would be jumping out of a plane hundreds—wait, thousands…right?—of feet above the ground. How the hell was she going to manage that? She wasn't even five foot for God's sake! Goddamn, she was going to  _die_.

Shelton whistled. "Your sister is one crazy bitch. She's gonna get squashed like a bug, by the way you've been describing her."

And that was how Merriell Shelton got a black eye.


	2. 2: Melbourne

After long intense months of training and waiting for the Guadalcanal Campaign to end, King Company was shipped off to Melbourne, Australia. While the survivors of the Guadalcanal Campaign were going to rest and recover, King Company was one of the companies that got to sit back and relax.

Matt spent most of his free time going to pubs and writing letters to his family. His anger at Madison has long since evaporated and now they were often exchanging stories about their friends and their experiences. Madison had yet to be shipped off to a different continent and Matt couldn't help but feel grateful for this. From the stories he had been hearing from his fellow Marines, he did  _not_  want Madison in the Pacific.

On one of Matt's nights out, he was hanging around Shelton (now nicknamed Snafu) and a few other Marines. They were drinking, gambling, just having a great time. Burgie hasn't been hanging out with them much lately and Matt knew exactly why: he had met a girl. The girl was named Florence and Matt had to admit, she was a doll. Now when they got married, Matt was going to say "I told you so" to them. (After all, he was the one that introduced the pair to each other.)

Back on track: Matt was having a real good time in the pub, when he heard a familiar voice shout out, "Klein, is that you?"

Matt turned his head up to see who was talking to him. He couldn't believe it.

"Jesus, Sid, is it really you?"

Sidney Phillips grinned and stuck out his hand. "You better believe it. Boy, what were the odds of us ever seeing each other? I never knew you enlisted!"

Matt took Sidney's hand and shook it. He pulled up a chair and so Sidney could sit down. "Yeah, I enlisted as soon as I could. How about you?"

Matt knew Sidney because his aunt and uncle lived in the same town as Sidney and his family did. Matt's cousin was friend's with Sidney's older sister. Matt's cousin had introduced the two boys to each other, and the rest is history. The last time Matt had seen Sidney was three years ago.

"I did the same thing. Eugene—you remember him, right? My best friend? Well, he tried to, but his old man wouldn't let him because of his heart murmur."

"That's a shame, but it's probably for the best, you know?" Matt pondered. "He's a nice kid, really, but—"

Snafu cleared his throat loudly. "Hey, Kraut," Matt had to restrain his eye roll from Snafu's nickname for him. Ever since Snafu realized that his friend was of German descent, that's what he started calling Matt. While Shelton's nickname was a military acronym, Matt's nickname just had to be an insult to the Germans. "Aren't ya going to introduce us to ya friend?"

"Oh, right. Of course! Sidney, these are my friends from my company. The one who just spoke to you? That's Snafu."

"Doesn't that stand for…"

"Situation Normal, All Fucked Up?" Snafu grinned. "It sure does."

"Our friend Burgin gave it to him. You might meet him. You might not," Mat shrugged.

Sidney looked confused. "Where is he?"

"He met a girl," Jay De L'Eau piped up. "Isn't that right, Matt?"

"Right. And that was Jay De L'Eau who just spoke up," Matt pointed out as he took a sip of his beer. "Enough about us. How have you been? I know you went to Guadalcanal."

Sidney started to fidget, appearing to be nervous. "I don't…"

"Relax, you don't have to tell me anything that you don't want to. Let me get us another round and we can talk, okay?"

"So how's your family?" Sidney asked as he started on another glass of beer.

"Mom and Pops are doing just fine, I'd say," Matt took a big gulp of his beer. "Mikey is doing good too. I believe he turned seven not too long ago…or he will be, what's the date? Anyway, and the twins—"

"Madison and Morgan?" Sidney recalled. "The ones that—"

"Yeah, that would be them," Matt intercepted, knowing what his friend from Mobile was getting to. "Anyway, yeah. They're both fifteen now. Jesus, I can't believe they're growing up. Anyway, the last time I wrote to Maddie, she was in Georgia."

"Why would she be in Georgia?" Sidney asked.

It took Matt a few moments before he could answer. "She...uh…well, she's a paratrooper."

Sidney's blue eyes widen. "What?"

"Madison is a paratrooper," Matt sighed, massaging his temple with his fingers. "She had originally signed up to be in the Nurse Corps. My grandmother helped her out on that. Then she got relocated and they fucked up her papers and now she's part of the airborne."

"What about Morgan?" Sidney pried. If they were both involved with the military, then the Klein family was fucked.

"She's still at home, thank God."

* * *

 

As much as it was fun to kick back in Australia, the training was still on. They still had to wake up at the ass crack of dawn and still had to do exercises. Matt often found himself wresting with Sidney and one of his friends, "Chuckler" Juergens. Chuckler was a great guy to be around. He had a great personality.

Then there was that three days and three nights training. Everyone had to pack up in full gear and head out into the fucking desert or whatever the hell it was and they did their in-combat training. Matt sat with Snafu and Burgin—who seemed to be somewhat sulky. It was probably because he wouldn't see Florence. But Matt knew that Burgie was a strong man and that he would be able to make it through.

Matt found that his three days and three nights out in the wild weren't too bad. He knew that it would be tougher once he was actually in combat.

Then he had to march one hundred miles back to Melbourne. It wouldn't have been bad if he hadn't formed blisters and one his knees were about to give out. (Although when he got his next letter from Madison, he was laughing his ass off. His younger sister had to march 136 miles from Toccoa to Benning, full gear in pack. She complained about all the stuff she had carry—which he would admit, it was a  _lot_ —and how her knees became sore and she was swollen in a lot of places. Although she complained, Matt and his friends had to admire the fifteen-year-old. She was a tough cookie, Snafu said.)

After that exercise, Matt spent a lot more time at the field where the Marines were staying. He had to get one of the corpsman to wrap gauze tightly around his left knee because it had almost gone out. Since Matt stayed in his cot for most of the time, his friends would around and his errands for him and when Sidney wasn't with his Australian girl named Gwen, he would stop by with some of his friends from his own company and they would all talk.

Matt had already known Chuckler and Runner from a night of drinking. They were great people. He then met Bill "Hoosier" Smith and Robert Leckie, who seemed to be having a rough time. They all talked about their friends, family and home life. The men of Howl Company also warned Matt of what to expect and gave him advice for when he was truly in combat.

Hoosier had once brought up the subject of Madison being in the Airborne.

"Phillips said that one of your sisters were in the Airborne? He said her name was Madison?"

Matt couldn't help but groan in his pillow. "Yes. Madison signed up to be a nurse but now she's going to jump out of airplanes. As a corpsman."

Leckie whistled. "One kid is fighting Japs in the pacific while another one is jumping out of airplanes in kraut territory. Your family must be proud."

* * *

 

Days later, the Marines were back on a ship and were heading out into the pacific, only God knew where.


	3. 3: Sledge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter three! I'm putting in an author's note to let you all know that I am leaving for vacation this Friday (the 17th) and won't be returning until next Saturday, the 25th. I won't be able to update at all next week, I'm so sorry! But hopefully I'll be able to work on it when I have free time from my parents and their friends (it's like a joined vacation. RIP me.)! (I mean, I'm hoping I'll be able to watch Teen Wolf and the Scream TV series while I'm there...so wish me luck on that.) So here I am, rushing to get this published. My computer is acting really uh...well it's not working properly, which is why my updates have been kind of off and I'm not sure if I'll be able to update ASAP when I get back because 1) my computer and 2) I should probably start on some AP Euro summer work. (I actually got most of it done today, but I have to write an essay. UGH.) The next time I update, it'll most likely be for my BOB fic which I'm hoping I'll be able to update by the time I leave, but I can't say for sure.
> 
> Now that I'm done rambling, here's chapter...three! There's a lot of skips in this but oh well.

The Marines were sent to Cape Gloucester, an island off of New Britain.

Matt didn't much of it at first. He and his fellow comrades got all set up, waiting for the fighting. He had to admit, he was anxious for it. Whether it was for the thrill of it or whether it was so he could get it done, Matt couldn't tell you. He just wanted to get it over with.

It rained a lot at Cape Gloucester. The rain drops were heavy and it always came unexpectedly. It didn't matter if you were able to get your poncho on or not, you were instantly soaked to the bone within seconds. Matt and other Marines ended up getting colds from it.

Eventually, when the fighting rolled around, Matt was not prepared at the time. He was in his hammock, drawing an overdramatic figure of Snafu when he heard the shots going off. He shared a look with Jay before the shots got louder. Quickly, Matt put his helmet on and rolled out of his hammock, grabbing his gun and crawling into positions with Jay, Burgin and Snafu.

Those next few weeks were absolute hell. In fact, Matt was sure that they  _were_ in hell. Matt found a hard time keeping up with the rapid pace of war. He watched comrades die right in front him. He had killed many of the enemy. He's fought in the day in the night. He fought in rain or shine. He didn't know what was the worst or what was the better condition to fight in.

In one of the many battles, Matt had gotten hit in the forearm. God, did that hurt like hell. He yelled, but he hadn't called for a corpsman. A corpsman came to his aid anyway. He tried to keep firing as the corpsman was checking his wounds, but the corpsman hit him hard in his wound, causing Matt to hiss and drop his gun.

"What the fuck?" he yelled to the corpsman.

"I'm trying to get the bullet out. Move off the line!" the corpsman yelled. Before they could do anything, however, the corpsman was shot down.

"Holy fuck," Matt whispered to himself, checking to see if the corpsman was alright. He turned the body over to find that the corpsman had been shot in the head.

"Shit," Matt said to himself once more. He would have to get the bullet out later. Quickly, Matt dug into the corpsman's bags and found sulfa. He placed some on his wound before wrapping the wound, temporarily stopping the bleeding.

Looking back to that moment, Matt thought that was one of the scarier things. He remembered that Madison was going to be a corpsman too (or medic, since she was with the army). His sister was going to be on the line at all times, patching up her comrades and knowing her, try to protect them. Like the corpsman that had tried to help him, Madison could get  _killed_  out there. In his next letter to her, Matt wrote to Madison to think twice before actually going into war.

* * *

 

After securing Cape Gloucester, the marines were sent to Pavuvu. Many marines came down with illness, Matt included. He stayed in his bunk, bundled up with as many blankets as Burgin and Snafu came up with. While he stayed in bed trying to break his fever, his friends would often read him letters that they would write to him, or letters that his family had wrote to him. Snafu read Madison's letters. He was amused by the…would she be sixteen now? Jesus, Matt didn't know the dates anymore.

"Your sister is fucking nuts," Snafu declared. "I'm in love with her already, and I've never even met her."

"If you try anything on my sisters, you're a dead man," Matt had chattered through his teeth. Over the couple of months, Madison had wrote to him about how she had to march 136 miles to a different camp, her relationships (and it seemed as if she had no attraction to any of them, thank God), going to New York and being shipped off to somewhere in Europe (England, Matt had no doubt). Morgan had written him about all the things that he was missing in Dayton. He missed his siblings. He missed his family. He missed home.

* * *

 

1st Marine Division stayed at Pavuvu for a few months. The main goal was to rest and recover. Everyone knew that they would eventually have to go back, but they tried not to think about it.

Matt stayed in a tent with Snafu, Burgin and Jay. Sometimes Matt would go visit Sidney (who would soon rotate back to the states, that lucky bastard) and his friends from H Company when he felt up to it. Currently, though, Matt was sitting on his bunk, writing letters to his sisters. He was currently writing to Morgan. Recently, Madison had officially gone into war, jumping into enemy lines in France. He was trying to find words to calm Morgan down, seeing as she had written in a frighten manner. After he wrote to her, he would write to Madison, but what the hell would he write?  _Hi. How was falling out of the sky for you while the enemy tried to kill you?_

"Hello." Matt tore his eyes away from his letter to see that three (he could barely notice the third one in the back) Marines were standing in the doorway of the tent. Everyone could tell that these three men were replacements, which was a welcoming distraction to Matt.

"Is this K Company?" a replacement who was thin and tall and had red hair asked. The replacement seemed familiar to Matt, but he couldn't place where he had seen the red head before. "We're supposed to be in 60 mortars, second squad."

Jay let out a breathless chuckle. "Jesus, these guys are supposed to be in 60 mortars."

"Can it, De L'Eau. Don't you know it's rude to talk to people behind their back?" Matt shot at him.

"Sorry, mom."

"This is second squad," Burgin finally piped up as he was assembling his rifle.

"Robert Oswalt," the replacement in the back decided to introduce himself.

"Eugene Sledge," the redheaded one followed suit. As soon as Eugene said his name, Matt knew instantly who he was. This was Sidney's best friend back home in Mobile. Sidney had told Matt that his friend couldn't sign up because of his heart murmur. Seeing the boy now, Matt was confused on how he came to be here. Did he lie in his enlistment form?

Matt watched briefly as Burgin looked up, looking at the third identified replacement.

"You mortars too?"

"Rifleman. Third Platoon. Bill Leyden."

"Well then we'll just ignore you," Burgin deadpanned, which caused Jay to start giggling again. Matt was starting to get fed up with Jay's giggling. It was giving him a headache and he just wanted to finish the letter he was writing to Morgan, god damn it.

"Will you stop with the giggling, De L'Eau? I'm trying to write to my sister."

"Which one? The one back home or the one in Europe."

Matt couldn't help but give Jay a look. "The one in Dayton."

"Oh. Tell her I said hi."

"Fuck off."

"Ignore those two over there, they're always like that," Burgin advised the three replacements as everyone watched Matt and Jay bicker.

"This here is Snafu," Burgin decided to introduce everyone. Snafu made a grunt of acknowledgement, but otherwise said or did nothing else. He even wouldn't look at the replacements. His eyes were casted down to his leg that was propped up on his knee, picking at his foot. Matt even thought that he had some case of trench foot.

"Those two over there are De L'Eau and Klein," Burgin introduced Jay and Matt. When Matt heard his name, he looked up and gave a small wave to the replacements.

"And I'm Corporal Burgin," Burgin introduced himself. There was a brief pause before he said, "Find yourself a bunk."

Snafu found a way to make sure that no replacements would stay with the four men who were currently occupying the tent. He threw his helmet and torn up boot on two of the bunks and declared them as taken.

Matt was getting fed up with his friends' behavior. The young man sighed loudly and got up. "Alright, I need a breather. I'll show you guys around and find yourselves a place to crash. Let's go."

* * *

 

"That's King Company's skipper, Captain Haldane, but we all call him Ack-Ack," Matt pointed out K Company's captain who was currently on duty. Matt liked Haldane a lot, he was a good man. "Ack-Ack is a good man, you'll like him."

Matt was showing Leyden, Sledge and Oswalt around the camp. They kept good on keeping up with him.

"And what's your name?" Eugene Sledge asked.

"Klein. K-L-I-E-N. It means 'small' in German, which is ironic for my family," Matt chuckled to himself.

"Why is that?" Robert Oswalt asked this time.

"We're short," Matt answered. Eugene was very inquisitive, which reminded Matt of his father and his two youngest siblings, Morgan and Michael. "My first name is Matthew, but everyone calls me Matt. Except Snafu, he calls me Kraut. I would appreciate it if you didn't call me that."

"Were you in Guadalcanal?" Sledge asked.

"Nah, but I know your friend Phillips was."

Matt looked back to see that Sledge had a look of surprise and confusion on his face.

"You mean Sidney Phillips?" Sledge asked.

"Yeah, he talked about you a lot while we were in Melbourne," Matt nodded, stopping. "There should be a few bunks open in the second rack over there," Matt pointed out the tent. "If not, I'm sure you'll find someplace to crash."

"Thanks," Sledge said as he, Oswalt and Leyden watched Matt walk away. The three of them started to walk too, but then Eugene remembered something.

"Hey, Matt?" Sledge called out to the marine, hoping he'd respond.

Matt turned around. "Yeah?"

"Do you know where I could find Howl Company?"

"You looking for Phillips?" Matt asked. Sledge nodded vigorously. "I'm not sure if you'll find him in his bunk right now, but Howl Company is right down there," Matt pointed to the direction Sledge was heading too.

"Alright. Thank you."

* * *

 

After Eugene found a tent to settle down in, he decided to explore the campgrounds. Unknowingly to him, Sidney Phillips had spotted him.

Eugene heard someone running towards him swiftly. He looked behind him and barely had time to register who it was before he was tackled to the ground.

"Something's wrong. Something's  _very_ wrong if you made it through boot camp."  _Sidney._ Eugene tried to react in someway, but his best friend from back home was giving him a hard time.

Then he saw two pairs of feet.

"Get up off my deck."

Immediately, the two childhood friends stood at attention. Eugene recognized one of the men: Ack-Ack Haldane.

"Captain Haldane," Eugene sputtered out quickly.

"Sir," Sidney followed suit.

"What's this about, marine?" Captain Haldane asked Sidney. "Giving a new marine a hard time?"

"Yes sir. I mean no sir," Sidney quickly back tracked his answer.

Haldane looked at Eugene. "Who are you?"

"Private Eugene Sledge, sir," Eugene answered quickly.

"You fellas know each other or is this just some kind of conflict resolution?"

"Old friends, sir. From Mobile, Alabama, sir," Eugene answered.

"Mobile?" Captain Haldane required. "Old friends, huh?"

"That explains it," the man next to Haldane said. Eugene would have to ask Matt who that was later.

"As you were," Captain Haldane dismissed the two marines. "But, try not to dislocate a shoulder or break an arm. We need the both of you in good health."

"Sir," Eugene and Sidney nodded together.

"Carry on," the captain said before he walked away, his lieutenant following him. When both men were gone, Sidney and Eugene looked at each other and started laughing.

"Getting me in hot water on my first day here," Eugene accused his friend, shoving him. The two began to walk together.

"Yeah, well, you deserved it!" Sidney claimed grabbing at his friend's arm, but Eugene blocked him. "Welcome to paradise."

* * *

 

The two friends caught up with each other. Sidney gave Eugene plenty of advice for the life of a marine. Sidney told Eugene that he would be rotating home soon, which Eugene couldn't help but feel a little down at. It wasn't that he wasn't happy for Sidney, it was just that he had just got here, and now his best friend is going home.

"You know, Matt Klein is here," Sidney had told Eugene. "You remember John and Sarah and their family back home in Mobile? Remember that scrawny boy from Ohio that came down with his family? That's Matt."

"I've met him," Eugene nodded. "I didn't realize who it was. I recognized the name, but I couldn't remember where. He was kind enough to tell me you were here and show me where I could find a place to sleep at."

"That's Matt for ya," Sidney told him. "He's one of the kindest men around. He ain't mean to nobody, but he  _will_  fight you if you're doing something wrong."

* * *

 

Eugene never got the chance to say goodbye to Sidney. He had left, and Eugene was too late. All he could do was watch the ship sail off. He was officially alone.

* * *

 

That night, Eugene had a talk with Robert Leckie. Leckie and his friends let Eugene bunk with them, even though they were part of different companies.

"Have you heard the latest about the other war?" Eugene asked Leckie.

"There's another war?" Leckie responded.

"They invaded Europe. They landed in France last month," Eugene informed Leckie.

"Only matters if you have a brother over there. Otherwise, no one here gives a shit," Leckie told Eugene, taking a gulp from his rather large jug.

"My brother landed in Italy. Tank battalion."

Leckie inwardly sighed to himself. He set his jug down. "You know, Matthew Klein's got one of his sisters over there. She's in the airborne as a medic."

Eugene couldn't help but be baffled by that. "His sister is in the military?" How was that possible?

"Yeah, one of them. He has twin sisters who are younger than him. One of them is back home while the other one is jumping out of airplanes. Maybe he could tell you what's happening over there."

* * *

 

"Who told you my sister was in Europe?" Matt asked. It was the day after Eugene and Leckie had their conversation about Europe and most importantly, about the Bible. (That's a different subject, however.) The two men were in the makeshift mess hall, eating together.

"Robert Leckie did," Sledge informed him. "I was asking him if he knew about the war over in Europe. He said that it only mattered here if you had a brother over there, otherwise no one cares. He let it slipped that you had a younger sister over there. You see, my brother Edward is over there and I was wondering…"

"…if I had any information?" Matt asked. Eugene nodded eagerly. "Well, it's most likely that our siblings are in different areas. The last time Madison wrote—"

"Your sister's name is Madison?" Eugene interrupted. He never knew of a woman named Madison before. Typically, it was a man's name.

"Yeah. And get this: her twin is named Morgan," Matt added, putting a cigarette in his mouth and took a match. He offered Eugene one, but Eugene declined. It didn't matter, he would start smoking soon anyway. "Our parents just wanted boys, I guess. Never bothered to pick any other name. Anyway, the last time Madison wrote, she was still in France I think. I can try to ask if she'll know anything about Italy but if you want, I can still keep you updated."

"I'd like that very much."


	4. 4: Peleliu Landing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! I wrote basically all of this chapter at 2 AM last night.

Captain Haldane and his ever faithful sidekick, First Lieutenant Jones had informed K Company of a operation that they would soon take part in: Operation Stalemate II. They were going into Peleliu. This would be the second major battle that Matt would take part in. He couldn't help but dread it, because he knew men were going to die and he just didn't want to deal with it.

The men had packed up from their things from Pavuvu before they headed out. Matthew managed to write and a letter to Madison, asking if it was possible that she could brief him on what was happening in whatever part of Europe she was, and if she knew of anything that was going on in Italy. He knew that she would have a very slim chance of knowing anything other than what her own company is doing, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

Currently, Matt was standing in the LVT, preparing to roll out. He stood beside Burgin while Sledge had just now walked up behind him.

"I don't smoke," Sledge said over the bells that were ringing loudly. Matt could only guess that a marine—most likely Snafu—had offered him some smokes.

There was a long pause before he heard, "Yeah?"

Matt was right, it was Snafu that had offered Sledge the smokes. That crazy Cajun bastard. Matt watched as the door of the LVT shut. A different door opened, a bright light temporally blinded Matt. Matt couldn't help that he had somewhat sensitive eyes. He blamed it on having those bright blue orbs he inherited from his family.

"Let's go, boys!" Hillbilly shouted. There was a jolt, and Matt and the other marines hunched down to be covered by the LVT.

The LVT slowly rolled closer to its exit. Matt could see and hear the warzone beyond the ocean water on the island Peleliu. Matt didn't have time to process his thoughts, because he felt a sudden lurch and gravity was pulling them down…down into the waters that surrounded Peleliu. He felt the salt water splash onto him and getting into his mouth. He rejected the taste, although he probably should have been used to the sea water by now.

The LVT was cruising along the waters. Most of the marines just sat down and waited until they absolutely  _had_  to get up. Others, however (namely the replacements), couldn't help but peek over the LVT. They were all curious, since this was going to be their first taste of battle. Matt had to fight the urge to yank all of them down and protect them, as he had done with the twins and his brother all those years.

The replacements weren't his siblings, Matt had to remind himself. He didn't _need_  to protect them. He didn't have to, necessarily, damn it.

They all started to be bombed by artillery, the shells falling and exploding in the water, which created huge splashes of that  _tasteful_ salt water. As soon as the first shell hit, everyone ducked back down into the LVT.

"Stay the fuck down!" Hillbilly yelled as loud as he could. Matt scanned everyone's faces. His older and more familiar comrades didn't even flinch (or barely, it was hard to tell) while the newer comrades were more easily rattled.

Matt looked at Sledge, the closest replacement near him. He appeared anxious. He couldn't help but tell himself to give some of his chocolate that he had been saving to Sledge once they made it through the battle. _If_  they made it through the battle.

When the men started to fire the machine guns, Matt clutched to his own rifle tightly and started to pray. He prayed for his landing to end as swift and smooth as possible. He prayed for the men in his squad to survive this ordeal. He prayed for his family. He prayed for Madison to be safe in Europe.

To Matt's surprise, the LVT got them quicker to the shore than he expected. As the men still fired the guns, Matt knew it was the perfect opportunity to get out.

"Let's move it!" Matt yelled over the commotion. As soon as he could, Matt swiftly hopped out of the LVT and ran for a short distance before falling to his stomach onto the sand. He started to crawl. He crawled away from the waters. He ignored all the carnage as he crawled pass the men who had already been shot down. He tried not to think of the horror.

Matt had only been to the beach a handful of times before he was shipped out to war. When he returned home, Matt knew he could never step foot on a beach again after seeing the bodies scattered on the sand and water and the blood that stained those substances.

Matt pushed away all of his thoughts. He could not think of anything that didn't relate to what was happening at the very second. The only thought he made was of his number one priority: to get off the beach. He needed to reach the barricades that nature had made.  _Get to the trenches._

Eventually, in his own timely manner, Matt got a trench. He ignored the dirt blowing up in his face and he just shot anything in sight. Eventually, Snafu and Sledge surrounded him. From the corners of his eyes Matt could see that while Snafu was doing a good job he could tell that Sledge was having a hard time. Not that he could blame the man.

Soon, there was a Ha-Go heading towards the marines. Before Matt knew it, the tank exploded. The Japanese were hitting them  _hard_ , and everyone knew it.

"Let's go! We gotta move out!" Matt heard someone yell. The marines followed him, exiting the trench. They were swift on their feet, getting the hell out of dodge.. Suddenly, Matt looked behind him and he realized that Sledge wasn't there.

_God damn it._

As fast as he could, Matt ran back to the trench, praying that Sledge was still alive and that the enemy wasn't there. When he crouched and bent over to see if anyone was there, he sighed in relief. Sledge was there. He looked shaken up, but he would be fine. No enemy was around them, as far as Matt could see.

"Come on, Sledge, buddy, we gotta go! Get up, we gotta move!" Matt encouraged the redheaded main and extended his arm out so that his fellow comrade would grab his hand. In a somewhat dazed manner, Sledge was able to get out of the trench with little assistance from Matt, who only helped him out when he needed to.

Matt knew that if Madison was ever in trouble, he would want someone to help her out when she needed. He supposed that he was just returning the favor for the Sledge family.

Matt and Sledge quickly found their platoon and got into position with them. They all waited as patiently as they could for their signal to advance on. When Gunnery Sergeant Elmo "Gunny" Haney gave the okay, the marines continued forward. That was, until a runner from a different company came running through the bushes.

"K Company?" the marine asked.

Haney turned back and stepped closer to the man. "Part of it."

The runner turned to Haney, eying him in a serious manner. "You're supposed to hook up with the rest of the battalion in the southern end of the airfield, in the brushline."

"Got it," Haney said, before continuing to lead the marines that were with him.

"You got any water?" the runner asked.

"No, we don't got any fucking water," Haney answered before he ordered the men to take another salt pill, which Matt had forgotten to do before they even landed on Peleliu.

Captain Haldane came running back, ordering Haney to bring the men up now.

"Do that later," Haney changed his mind. "Let's go!"

The marines ran through trees and eventually met up with Hillbilly in open space. Matt noticed the battle that was currently going on in the background. He saw buildings collapsing. And then…

"Son of a bitch, those are Jap tanks."

"Mortars! Get me some HE on those sons of bitches! Now! Let's go! Let's go!" Haney ordered before running out into the field.

"You heard the lieutenant. Let's go. Move out!" Burgin cried before he, Snafu, De L'Eau, Sledge and Matt ran out together. They quickly set up. They kept firing round after round but it was useless. They kept missing. On the bright side, they did keep on hitting the soldiers that were on the tank. That was worth something.

"Klein!" De L'Eau shouted to Matt, getting his hands on a bazooka. Matt quickly aided his friend. When Jay gave him the all clear, Matt dropped the explosive in and Jay fired at the tank. Unfortunately, the bazooka didn't take it out.

"Oh God  _damn_  it," Matt cursed. He cursed even louder as the tank pointed their guns at the platoons.

"Shit!" Snafu joined in the cursing.

"Fall back!"

K Company ran away from the tank and took cover. They were all trembling at this point, hoping for it to be all over.

_BOOM!_

Matt looked behind him to see that the enemy tank had burst into flames. He then noticed the Sherman tank, which no doubt destroyed the other one. He continued to watch as the Sherman fired at buildings, taking them down and the Japanese soldiers with it.

* * *

 

For now, the fighting was over. Everyone was still on high alert, not wanting to get an unwanted attack. If that happened, they would be truly fucked.

Currently, Matt was sitting with Burgin, Jay, Snafu and Sledge. All five men were sitting down and digging into their rationed food. No one was really making any conversation (unless you counted Jay doing one of his favorite things to pass time: making Matt irritated) until Captain Haldane came by.

"You got enough ammo?" Haldane asked the group.

"Sure thing, Skipper," Snafu was the one to reply.

Haldane nodded before he gave the information that he needed to give. "Perimeter is thirty yards from your hole. LP's beyond that. The password is 'Lilliputian'. One man awake at all times."

"Sure thing, Cap," Matt nodded. Haldane gave the slightest hint of a smile before he left the group.

"Lilliputian?" Snafu asked, his Louisiana accent slipping.

"Sounds Russian to me," Matt couldn't help but comment.

"It'll be hard for the Japs to say," Sledge explained to Snafu. "Hard for me to say."

"I can imagine my younger sister saying that. She has a lisp," Burgin shared.

" _Lilliputian_ ," Jay mimicked a lisp.

"Fuck off, De L'Eau. It's not nice to make fun of little girls," Matt couldn't help but scold Jay. His sisters both had speech issues to a certain extent and they would always get upset when someone made fun of them.

"Shit, I forgot about that guy!" Snafu suddenly exclaimed before running off. He was heading for a dead body of a Japanese soldier, Sledge following suit.

Boy, was he going to have more of a culture shock of what he was about to witness.


	5. 5: Peleliu Airfield

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I haven't updated since August, sorry about that :/ NGL, I kind of did put this off, mainly because writing this was somewhat of a long process. To save you my frustrations, I'll just tell you the ending: I have a new computer so I can write without wanted to blow my brains out! Anyway, here's chapter five!
> 
> Warning: use of the J-slur.

The foxhole that Matt shared with Jay and Burgie weren't that far away from the foxhole that Snafu, Sledge and Oswalt were bunking in. During their "free" time the men would often lunge in each others' foxholes. When they were fighting, the motormen would all squat down in the same foxhole and work from there.

It was hot in Peleliu (and according to Sledge, it was one hundred and fifteen fucking degrees, Jesus fucking Christ!), especially when they had all their gear on. The heat had its unfortunate side affects of exhaustion and dehydration. Matt knew that he probably should have grown used to the lack of sleep but he was a Klein, alright? The dehydration, well, most men around were most definitely not used to that. Don't suggest on just swallowing your own spit, because that did not help them at all.

One day, a man had yelled that another marine had found water. Matt didn't want to believe it. There was no way there was any good drinking water here.

But Matt and his friends followed the others anyway. They came across a small pond of sorts with water. Water that matched the dirt of the island. Matt felt that there was something up with the liquid. There was no way that they could drink that.

"There's no way that we can drink that," Matt said to no one in particular. No one listened to him. Matt watched as one man passed his helmet to a man below, who filled it up with water. He passed it back to the other, while someone picked up…was it a head skull of an animal? Matt honestly did not know what it was. He watched as the marine dropped back in the water in shock.

"It's poisoned," someone said. "Fucking Jap poisoned it." Matt fought the urge to say "I-told-you-so", but Snafu clearly had his back.

"It looks like you were right, huh Kraut?" Snafu said to Matt, but he wasn't looking at him. He only looked at the poisoned water. "You got good instincts."

"Listen up, Weapons! CO's got our orders!" someone shouted out. The marines of K Company turned to face the man and Captain Haldane. They listened to Haldane intently.

"All right, here it is. The entire division is moving across the airfield at 0900. First and second platoon will lead, followed by Weapons and third platoon." Haldane paused in perfect timing, because another bomb fell to the ground and exploded in the distance. That happened often.

"The only way to stop this Jap artillery is to get into those hills, and the only way into those hills is across this airfield. When we move, do not stop until we get across. You got it?"

"Aye, Skipper," everyone responded.

"Any questions?" Haldane asked.

"We need water, Captain," Burgin informed Haldane.

Haldane nodded. "I'm working on it, Corporal," he scanned his soldiers. "Get your gear ready and stand by."

"Get back to your positions," Haney ordered. "Pack it up!"

* * *

 

While Burgin, De L'Eau, Leyden, Matt, Oswalt, Sledge and Snafu were all packing up (well, Snafu really wasn't doing anything. That lazy motherfucker was only lighting up a cigarette.) and conversing on what they desperately needed and what they could face out there as they trekked across the airfield, Oswalt quietly admitted something to the group.

"I've got a little water."

Everyone stared at the man. He had had water the entire time and didn't tell anybody? (Although Matt had to admit, that was pretty smart to do.)

They watched as Oswalt pulled out his canteen, handing it straight to Matt, who was squatting across from him and was the closest person to him. Hesitantly, Matt took the canteen. He held it up to his ear, shaking it. He heard a little _splish-splosh_ sound. Dumbfounded, he quickly unscrewed the cap and peered inside. He couldn't really see anything, but now he knew that Oswalt wasn't lying to them. Matt held the canteen to his lips, tipping his head back as he took a sip of the water. After he was done he put his head back down and held the canteen in front of him. He swished the water around before finally swallowing it. He moaned.

" _Durch Gottes Gnade_ ," Matt murmured, before speaking up. "The man really does have water." He passed the canteen on to Sledge. He drank it before passing it on to Leyden. Each man took a drink out of Oswalt's canteen. Burgin was the last one to get it. He drank out of it before giving it back to Oswalt, who got the last drink.

"Thank you," Burgin said. Matt couldn't help but think on how his ma would love Burgin. Scratch that, she would have liked all of his friends that he's made in the Marine Corps so far. (Well, he wasn't so sure about Snafu, that man was something else.) "You've been promoted."

"What the fuck?" Matt couldn't help but say. Burgin gave him a look.

"We have the same rank, you moron."

"You're gonna give him the mortar sight?" Snafu couldn't believe it.

"It's the least I can do for the water," Burgin retorted, before going back to pack up the rest of his things.

"This is why you ought to be nice to others," Matt said a few moments later. "You never know what they'll do in the future."

"Fuck off, Kraut."

"Get off your ass," Haney came by. "Get under that gear. We're moving shortly."

The men did as they were told. They packed up and put on their gear and they were high on alert. They all stared intently at the airfield watching, waiting.

A plane flew by over them. Matt couldn't help but look up and watch the plane fly into combat. A sick feeling passed through Matt as he thought on how if Madison was deployed into the pacific, she could be jumping out of that plane.

"Thank God for the Navy," Burgin suddenly piped up. Matt looked over to see that he had been talking to Sledge, who was shaking and smoking. It looked like Snafu finally got to him.

Matt watched as first and second platoon moved out. He waited, his adrenaline building up.

"Weapons, let's go!" Haldane yelled.

"Let's go," Burgin said and together he, Matt and De L'Eau started to make a run for it, the others following behind.

They were running across the airfield, and they had to do it fast. The Japanese were bombing them with arterially. Matt could hear the explosions coming from either side of him. Some of them hit so close that the dirt and rock hitting his face were nearly blinding him this time around.

Matt couldn't see his friends anywhere. All he could do was run. Run through the dirt explosions, running past marines who had got hit. Some of them cried out in pain while others had taken a clear shot with a major part of their body and were killed instantly.

Matt found part of a broken concrete wall and ducked behind it. Eventually, Burgin, De L'Eau, Sledge and Snafu all met with him. Oswalt wasn't there. Everyone knew that he had been killed. The men took a brief moment of silence before they all ran back out into the airfield. They found a hole and quickly all five men jumped into it, readying themselves with more to come.

"Listen up! We're crossing the airfield. Stand by and move out!"

"Get ready to cross! Pass the word!"

The men did as they were told.

It was going to be a long battle.

* * *

 

Who knew a "simple" crossing could be so deadly?

Truly the only things that the Marines could do was run as fast as they could, duck and cover, and don't get killed. It sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, as Matt found out the hard way, it wasn't. No matter where he was at, bodies of his dead comrades littered the airfield. Limbs were being blown off every step he was taking. The enemy was _everywhere_. And he really means it, too. Their enemy were _good_ at hiding.

After they finally found a bombed out building and the battle died down, Matt's unit had taken refuge. As his buddies were sitting back, he, Burgin, and Haney were walking about, trying to help out the men who needed it. And many did. Mainly, it was the wounded Matt tried to help out. God, they _needed_ to be evacuated.

As Matt was wondering how he could help these men, he heard a loud, groaning sound. He got up from where he was squatting next to a wounded soldier, looking up to see a B-9. _Perfect._

Matt could see that there was a man standing halfway out of his transportation. The hatch was opened.

"Is this Item Company?" the man asked, yelling so he could be heard.

"No! K-3-5!" Hillbilly shouted in response.

"I gotta get back to 1-7! Do you know where they are?"

"No, I don't! I need you to take our wounded back to the beach!"

The man appeared to shake his head at Hillbilly's request. "No can do! We're moving out!" And with that, the B-9 started to go on it's way. This made Matt see red. He started to visibly shake at this man's answer. How dare he?

"Matt," Burgin's voice ran out. He felt a large, rough hand clutching his shoulder. "Don't."

"It's not right," Matt growled out. He wasn't the only one who was thinking of going out to stop them from leaving. The next thing he knew, he and the rest of his comrades watched as Ack-Ack walked out in front of the tank. It's his lucky day that they stopped before he would have been ran over. After it's halt, Hillbilly had immediately climbed up onto it, as he tapped on the hatches. They both opened. Matt could hear him talking, but he was unable to make out what he was ordering the men to do.

Hillbilly and Ack-Ack shared a look, before Ack-Ack stepped away and looked to the men. "Load the wounded!"

Matt didn't need to be told twice.

* * *

 

By the time nighttime came, Matt's anger had subsided. As his friends came to know, it took awhile before his anger would die down. (His siblings were the same way. Their friends back home would often joke that it was because they were all so _tiny_. That would usually piss off both of his sisters and believe him, you do _not_ want to mess with angry twins.) Matt was sitting back against a column, his eyes closed. He could hear someone counting. He ignored the man, but then he heard Haney's harsh voice. He was trying to make him go somewhere (Matt wasn't paying attention. He was dead tired, alright? Give him a break.), but Ack-Ack had made Haney keep the man where they were now. Great. He eventually set him away to go help the Doc count bandages. Everyone could easily tell how the man (it was Daniels) was clearly shaken up.

And that was when Matt truly did fall asleep, because he didn't hear his friend Sledge tell Ack-Ack and Hillbilly about how scared he was.

* * *

 

In the morning, they moved out.

"You was knocked out like a baby, Klein," Snafu teased Matt. "You was fast asleep. I think you were drooling just a bit,"

"At least I got my beauty rest, unlike you, you piece of shit," Matt bit back. Their banter had the people around them giggle.

So far, the day has been easy. All they had done was march, Snafu gave Sledge and Leyden nicknames, the had to fire a few rounds. Relatively, it was a good day...until nighttime rolled around once more.

Burgin, De L'Eau, Leyden, Klein, Sledge, and Snafu all had their foxholes dug near each other (and by near, they were really close). They were all up. Burgin was eating, and there was a fucking _dog_ in their unit now. Matt couldn't believe it. If Mikey was with them, he would have been all over this dog. His younger brother wanted a dog _so_ bad, but his family hasn't had one for a long time.

Haney, was was walking around to each group, crouched down to Matt and his friends.

"Check your weapons. Keep covered," was Haney's orders.

"Done," Snafu drawled out. They were all good at keeping one foot ahead of themselves.

"Good," Haney nodded, before changing the subject. "Can you believe this bullshit? I can't believe this dog. Some dog is supposed to smell a Jap before me? I don't think so." he paused. "I appreciate the thought, but, some dog isn't going to let me sleep peacefully at night."

"I have a dog," Sledge piped up. "His name's Deacon."

Haney had asked Sledge if he was fast enough to snipe a Jap out in the middle of the night. Sledge nodded. Haney took that answer, and started to leave. Not before he could say, "Woof" to the man and left.

Matt and De'Leau tried hard not to laugh at that. Snafu cracked at them trying to stifle their laughing in.

"What the fuck?" Snafu asked out loud to no one in particular. The others were soon joining in on the silent laughter, especially after Leyden imitated Haney's "woof".

It was going to be an alright night.

* * *

 

It was Eugene that was up, keeping watch. (He was having a rough time trying to fall asleep as well.) He wasn't doing anything in particular. In fact, he found himself somewhat relaxing. It was quiet, the stars were out, and the enemy wasn't trying to murder them. It was...nice.

The quiet didn't last for too long, however. As Eugene was staring at nothing, dazed out, a small whimpering sound reeled him back into reality. He turned his head to see that there was a soldier, who was seemingly having a night terror.

"What's that?" Matt asked, his voice held a groggy sound in it.

"Someone must be having a nightmare," Burgin guessed. The marine was getting louder by the second, waking up more and more people.

"He better shut up before everyone on this island knows that we're here," Snafu added in.

It was obvious that the man needed to be quiet, everyone knew it.

"Quiet that man down!"

"Shut up!" the man next to the nightmare-riddled marine said, putting his arm around the man. Big mistake. The man was now freaking out even more now. This sprung Hillbilly, Burgin, Matt and a few hours to go over to the man.

Eugene and Snafu, as well as the rest of the men, were watching as all attempts to sooth the man was failing. Eugene wasn't going to lie, he had a feeling that it was all going to end badly.

The two friends watched as Hillbilly, Burgin, Matt, and another person try to hold the man down, but it was getting difficult now. Especially now that everyone heard something go off in the distance.

The men were still having problems to calm the marine down. By now they had pushed him back to the ground. He was still yelling.

"That man better shut up before he gets us all killed," Snafu grounded out. He would have shut him up real good, and Eugene knew it too, but said nothing as he continued to watch the failed attempts at keeping him at bay.

Matt had tried to clamp a hand over the man's mouth, pushing his head down into the ground, as the men who helped him held down other parts of the body. It worked for only a few moments before he bit down hard on one of Matt's fingers (he yelled out, "Fuck!") and continued to yell.

"Hit him with something!" someone said.

Hillbilly got the memo. As his soldiers were holding the man down, he looked around rapidly to find something. He found a utility shovel, grabbed it, and hit the man directly in the head, _hard_. Everyone around him could hear the sickening hit, and all went quiet.

Eugene and Snafu looked at each other. Did Hillbilly Jones just murder a marine? By observing the devestated look on Matt's face (he was a pretty pale man), their questions were answered.

"Get back to your holes," Hillbilly ordered the men. They did as they were told. Matt had said nothing else for the rest of the night. He didn't look at any of his friends as he laid back down with his back against his friends. They knew that he wasn't happy the way events had played out.

* * *

 

When daylight came by, they dragged the dead marine's body out of his foxhole, using his poncho as a shroud to cover his corpse. Hillbilly sat next to the body, guilty and shaken. No one could blame him.

Hillbilly wasn't the only one who was disturbed about how the night's events turned out. Matt was still silent, his arms crossed as he observed the body. He was conflicted. He never really wanted to kill someone else, a comrade especially, unless his own life was threatened.

 _A stupid nightmare,_ Matt thought. He felt a glare form. _A stupid nightmare causing an untimely death. Stupid. Stupid. STUPID._

He heard Sledge say aloud, "It was better him than all of us."

"Sledgehammer's right," Snafu agreed. He glanced at Matt, crossing his arms. "Had to be done."

No one really wanted to admit it, but they were right. Matt felt the tension in his shoulders relax, as he looked down, not wanting to face anybody. He felt someone put their hand on his shoulder in an act of comfort.

Later that day, as it began to rain, K Company had to move out.

The affects of the war was really starting to kick in now.


	6. 6: The Hills Have Eyes

They were stuck on Peleliu. Matt knew that Eugene was keeping count, but never bothered asking how many days they were on the island.

It was the same thing every day: hell. It seems like all they ever did was be aware of their surroundings 24/7, barely get any sleep, gunfire, death, and marching.

War was hell. His grandfather had been right about that. Matthew, Sr. was never in a war. The only people Matt could think of that were involved in wars of the past in his family was his father's father and his brothers. Matt's grandfather, however, was not a soldier. He was a doctor. Matt can't really call if his grandfather was out in the battlefield at all, so don't ask him. Maybe, once he got back home, he could ask.

Sledge's father is a doctor, and he too was involved in the Great World War as a doctor, like Matt's grandfather. Matt once joked that maybe Sledge's father and his grandfather had crossed paths once, but Matt was sure that his family was on the…wrong side during that war, so there was a slim chance of that actually happening.

Then, Matt laughed at that thought. He thought of how ironic it was that he and his sister were on the US side, but found it even funnier that Madison was the one in Europe, where her unit were fighting the Germans.

To pass the time, Matt and his friends would swap stories on just about anything. They all spoke of their lives before the war. They talked about their families. And Jay would never stop commenting on how gorgeous Matt's sisters were. God damn, he knew that De L'Eau was only pulling his leg, but Matt hated how the men would talk about women. Weren't they ever taught to be respectful? Obviously not.

"Relax, Kraut," Snafu would say. "We just pullin' legs around here. No harm to any of the dames. You got any pictures of them? I'm sure the men would  _love_ to see some pretty faces."

"Fuck off," Matt bit down his anger. Like  _hell_  they would.

* * *

 

"What _do_  they look like?" Sledge asked one day out of the blue. It had caught Matt off guard. At first, he wasn't really sure who Sledge was referring to.

"Who?"

"The twins," Sledge clarified. "You talk all about them, but I have no idea what they look like. Can you describe them?" Sledge was the type of man who needed visuals. He needed some descriptions of some sort, or else he just pictured the twins as little Matt look-a-likes. (Which, they probably did to some extent. After all, they _were_  siblings.)

"I'll show ya. Unlike the others, I trust you, Sledge." He pulled out a few pictures of them and handed them to his friend. He knew that Sledge was respectable and would not act vulgarly upon these photos like some of the men would.

Sledge shuffled through them. They were identical and very pretty. They had dark hair. Matt had handed him four pictures: one photo consisted the entire family, another was just of the two girls sitting on the front porch. The last two consisted of just the girls with their friends. It was easy to tell which one was who.

"Where did you get this one?" Sledge asked, holding the picture of Madison up with some of the men from her unit. He flipped to the back, reading it. The teenager was kind enough to write a description on the back.

"I think she sent me that one along with one of her letters," Matt answered. After Sledge was finished looking, he handed the photos back to Matt, who put them back in his breast pocket. "Don't ask me who each of the men are, because I'm not entirely sure."

Sledge nodded slowly, mindlessly shuffling through them still. "Have I met them before?"

Matt thought about it. Did he? He couldn't recall.

"I don't think so," Matt concluded.

* * *

 

No matter where they were, it always seemed to be pouring down rain wherever they went. Matt was getting pretty tired with it. Whenever it ended, he was simultaneously dry and wet. The ponchos weren't  _that_ effective into keeping them completely dry.

Leyden was wounded earlier that day. Haldane had came by, telling them all that Leyden was well, and that he would be back soon. But when morning came, they were going out into the hills.

* * *

 

The Hills had to be the worst time of his life, Matt had decided.

Haldane was true to his word. The next day, they were out in the hills, and it was rough. It seems that every day, the war became more difficult.

But the worst part on that day was when Hillbilly died. Ack-Ack no longer smiled. Hillbilly was his best friend and without him, the world was black and white to the captain.

Gunny Haney had been broken up by it too. No one could ever forget how his bright blue eyes were rimmed red. He was shaking.

Seeing those two all shaken up had shaken up the others too. Matt refused to talk about it. He wasn't going to break, not now. He couldn't. He wouldn't.

* * *

 

What really made it all go down hill, in Matt's opinion, was the death of Captain Andrew Haldane.

Matt was resting against one of the rocks, when Burgin had come running.

"Sniper's got the Skipper!" Burgin had said, his voice thick with emotion. Matt went completely still, staring at Burgin in shock. He knew what that meant.

"What?" Matt couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. Not until he saw a body.

"Captain Haldane?" Jay asked.

Burgin looked to be a wreck, but was able to say, "Ack-Ack's dead."

_Ack-Ack's dead._

_Ack-Ack's dead._

_Ack-Ack's_ dead _._

Burgin's words rang in Matt's ears, as well as Jay's crying. He was in disbelief. In shock. Their captain was dead. Gone. Killed by a sniper.  _A fucking sniper._

Two men were slowly walking by the rest of the company, carrying a stretcher. A stretcher that held Haldane's body. When Matt saw it, that's when he lost it. Yes, he had seen bodies before, prewar and during it but seeing his captain, someone who he so highly respected...it got to him.

" _God fucking damn it_!" He swore, throwing his helmet to the ground. He wasn't really sure if he had cursed in English or German but no matter what, it was clear to the others that Matt was upset.

They were ordered to move on. Matt knew they had to, with no other option. They had only moved out to find a new resting place in this hell of an island. All Matt had wanted to do was  _leave_. Leave this goddamn hellhole and get the war over with.

He hoped his sister was having a better time in Europe than he was in the Pacific.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, another update. And just right before school starts back up too! Part Seven was kind of hard to write, mainly because of how...emotional it gets. And it kind of jumps around, but that's okay. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	7. 7: Okinawa, Klein

OKINAWA

MAY 1945

It's been hard in the Marines Corp.

Matt knew it was hard, but he just didn't know how extreme it truly was.

Not only did he have to deal with their rivals, but he has to deal with civilians, too. It was harder than he thought of it to be. Sometimes, the civilians were just victims but while others were allies to the Imperial Japanese Army. He couldn't decide which was worse.

And then there was Aya.

Thinking about her brought tears to his eyes. Back in December, he had ran into her. As he has stared at her in awe, she had stared at him in fear. They were supposed to be enemies, but Matt didn't see it like that. From their first meeting, he had a felt a strong attraction to her. And while it took her awhile, she eventually started to feel something for him, too.

Of course, they had to keep it a secret. After all, their countries were at war. Their friends and family would have shunned them out. It was a recipe for disaster, but Matt and Aya did not care.  They were in love.

Right now, thinking about their relationship hurt Matt. He loved her, had _loved_ her, if you catch the drift. And being away from her hurt. Seeing all these Okinwanians, in clear suffer, made Matt's heart hurt. He swears that as soon as the war was over, he was going to take Aya back to the states and marry her.

While Matt's head was in the clouds, as his unit was walking throughout the village, his friends-the ones that have been with him through thick and thin-were messing with replacements...prisoners of war.

"SIT DOWN!" Eugene and Shelton were screaming at one of the POWs. Then they hit him. They were going too far, and would get in trouble. Matt couldn't do anything about it, though. As time went on in the war, the soldiers were getting more aggressive and when the enemy was near, it was hard to get them to stand down.

An officer that Matt has never seen appeared at the scene. "Stand down, get back! You can't hit these men, they're protected by the Geneva Convention!" He was shouting, as men were still pushing the POW around. It then hit Matt that this man probably did not know English.

"Sã, suwatte," Matt commanded the man. Everyone turned quiet. The POW stared at him.

"You know Japanese?" Snafu asked, but Matt did not answer, only staring at  the man. The man slowly did sit down, and everyone watched in awe.

Then there was artillery hit.

Here are they fucking go _again_.

* * *

 

The fight lasted long, and by nightfall it was pouring down rain again. Matt fucking hated it.

What he he didn't like, however, was that the entire island was a graveyard...Sledge has found that out the hard way, when he and Snafu were digging. Man, isn't that spooky or what?

"How come the Japs are buried and our guys aren't?" the new replacement, Hamm, Matt thinks his name is, piped up.

"Maybe it's part of their protocol, or morals," Matt said. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, but that was his speculation. Nothing more could be said,  however, because the sky was lit up with a flare. The Japanese were moving to attack.

The motor squad set up and started firing rounds, but they weren't very successful. Since everything was wet, the rounds would only go a short distance.

" _Gottverdamm_ ," Matt muttered angrily, as others around him were cursing too. The  latest one was a misfire, but thankfully Snafu was able to disable it, sticking it until a hole in the ground.

"Keep firing!" Second Lieutenant Robert Mackenzie shouted at them.

"Our rounds are all wet!" Snafu yelled back.

"Get more then, there's ammo over there, GO!" Mackenzie retorted, pointing them into the right direction. Matt, a bit impulsive, ran off towards that direction. Snafu, Sledge, and Hamm followed him.

The four group up behind a rock. They all watched as the ammo came flying from the enemy sign. The little bright white lights that whizzed by reminded Matt of firecrackers, if only just for a moment.

On signal, the four marines ran across the crossfire and were all able to miss getting hit. They reached to the ammo they needed and, as promised, they were dry. They grabbed sixty mortar rounds before starting to head back.

"Hold your fire!" One of the men yelled. "Civilians coming through!"

The four men held back as a fleeing family of four were running through. The US might have ceased  briefly, but not Japan. They all had to watch as three out of the four fleeing civilians were gunned down. The last one, a little boy, was shot down as well, but he was moving.

"HE'S STILL ALIVE!" Hamm yelled, and moved to get to him, but Sledge held him back. Hamm didn't understand, but then the boy was finally shot dead.

Seeing that made Matt feel guilty, it really did. The boy was a civilian. He was a child, a child that briefly reminded him of Mikey, who had to be his age, or close to it, by now. Aya also flashed through his mind, but he had to keep her out, as much as he longed for her.

"We need to keep moving," Matt said, and his friends agreed. They ran back across the crossfire, and back to their original position.

* * *

 

In the morning all was calm. At least, it was for now.

Most of the motor squad were gathered around in the circle. Sledge was smoking his pipe, ticking off the days they've been here in his bible. Matt wasn't going to lie, when Sledge had one day asked him for a cigarette (which Matt never smoked, by the way), he thought he was going to drop to the ground. Even so, Matt did give him one and the next thing he knows is that Sledge is smoking from a pipe.

 _What a gentleman._ Matt thought. _But what's the term Ma used? Pipe Gentleman....Gentlemen of the Pipe? No... no... wait. Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe!_

Matt couldn't help but laugh to himself. He did that a lot these days, and the lot of them was starting to think he was going crazy. He wasn't, it's just how he was, how his family was. They would laugh at just about anything. Especially Morgan. _  
_

"Why aren't we giving them safe passage?" Hamm asked, haunted by the previous night's events. Matt couldn't blame him, as he watched the replacement having difficulty getting the toothpaste onto his toothbrush.

"Whatchu' talkin' about?" Snafu asked, even know he knew what Hamm was talking about.

"The civilians," Hamm said. "We should be...we should be given them safe conduct."

"Most of them are Okinawans," Sledge offered. "A lot of them are helping the Imperial."

"That family wasn't," Hamm was choking up, as he pointed to the direction where they were at the night before. Sledge looked up towards him, Matt continued to stare at him, while Snafu was the only that only spoke up.

"Only thing that matters out here is killing Japs." Matt turned to glare at him, but said nothing. Partly because he didn't feel like arguing with him, partly because Bill Leyden walked up and sat down next to Hamm.

"The first time you see somebody get killed...it's something," Leyden began.

"Get used to it," Sledge said, no emotion in his voice.

"I was fifteen," Leyden continued, and this peaked all of their interest. "Buddy and I were hopping subway cars. The tunnel was too small, I fractured my skull and he, uh, his brains and bones got sprayed all over my face and chest." Leyden paused. "You never forget something like that."

"Jesus,"  Matt said, but Snafu had something better.

"Good thing your damn head is so fucking hard, you got nine lives, Bill Leyden," the man drawled out. Leyden smiled at that. It was true, it seemed like nothing could take that man out.

"What's the matter, Kathy?" Snafu picked on Peck, who was staring a photo, and hard. "One day of combat, and you're all wore out,"

"Shut up Snaf," Matt said, but no one heard him. They all watched Snafu pick on the guy, telling him the farther they go down south, the "meana and meana" they got.

"You better get mean too, boot," Snafu concluded, invading Peck's personal space. He stared at the man before grabbing the photo and jumping up so Peck couldn't reach to it.

Snafu examined it. " _Ooh_. Ooh, la la _la_. Now _that's_ a piece of ass."

"Every woman is a piece of ass to you," Matt bit at him.

"That ma'be true, but fuck, Kraut, but look," Snafu handed the photo to Sledge, and together he and Matt examined it. Matt had to admit, she was beautiful, but not as beautiful as Aya.

"Wow. I'd marry her," Sledge concluded.

"Maybe you should get one of yo sisters to send some raunchy photos of themselves," Snafu said to Matt. "The one in Europe may not be in the best conditions, but I'm sure the men all love to stare at her."

"Shut the fuck up," Matt snapped, as Leyden got a hold of the picture and examined it, front and back.

"Katherine Jones?" Leyden questioned. Everyone stopped and stared at Peck, as he retrieved his photo and sat back down, clearly frustrated.

"I thought you said your name was Peck?" Leyden asked. "That's--that's not your wife!"

"Oh. Oh, that's rich! What does the missus think about the Kitty Kat?" Snafu laughed.

"I met her after I was drafted," Peck explained. It seemed like he had a surprise every other second.

"Drafted?" Matt echoed. "Who the hell gets drafted around here?"

"There is no way you got drafted," Snafu agreed, as everyone began to sit back down again.

"Hamm, where you drafted?" Leyden asked the replacement, who shook his head no.

"I don't believe it," Snafu was shaking his head. "There's no way that broad is banging some drafted marine. No way."

"I don't _care_ what you think!" Peck exploded. Before anything else could be said, Lieutenant Mackenzie was yelling.

"K Company! Let's move, let's move!"

Burgin dropped by and ordered second squad to grab a rifle. Something tell Matt that his day was just going to end well.

* * *

 

The men had to go through a burnt village, a sign that they were here. Throughout the course there were dead bodies everywhere. Some were decaying while others were freshly new, bodies naked and stacked upon each other. The unit was all taking cover by the rocks, standing ready.

"Why the fuck are we doing here?" Leyden asked no one in particular. No one answered, choosing to listen to what was coming. They could hear footsteps, but Matt saw who they were.

"Civilians!" Matt yelled.

The marines watched as three woman, war worn, were trying to get out of the way. The men, trying to be helpful but at the same time wanted them gone, motioned for them to get out of the way.

A moment later, there was another woman, holding a baby. Both mother and child were crying, and the woman was speaking rapidly. She was desperate. The men were confused.

"She's trying to give us the baby!" one man said. Matt couldn't move, he could only stare.

The woman could see that the men couldn't understand her. She quickly undid her robe and then everything clicked in place: there was a bomb strapped to her.

"Oh my God," Sledge muttered, as Matt said, "Fuck!"

It was too late. The timer had gone off, and the woman blew to pieces, literally. Her child was gone too, and several marines were taken out, those who tried to get to her.

Then the Imperial Army started to fire at them.

As the two sides were shooting at each other, there were still civilians who were fleeing. Matt made sure they were getting out while shooting at the enemy at the same time.

Matt was able to take out the sniper before they were ordered to cease fire. They briefly watched the short aftermath: men checking on the others, a woman, who managed to survive, started to cry as she saw the blood on her hands.

This was all short lived, because then hits began. The marines were getting shelled at by themselves. Jesus, what a nightmare.

* * *

 

The morning after was always the calm before the storm.

The men were sitting around, reading letters mostly. Sledge's dog died while Hamm's brother had told him that five hundred men were killed by kamikaze pilots.

"Why don't they just surrender?" Hamm asked.

"There Emperor is their God, it's their duty," Matt answered.

"God damn it, give it back!" Peck roared. Snafu, Sledge, Matt, and Hamm all turned to see what the commotion was about. Peck and Leyden were fighting.

"That's it," Matt had officially lost his temper. He got up. "You two need to fucking stop!" He marched up towards the two. The two were physically fighting, but Matt was able to pull them off. When he wasn't happy, nothing was going to stop him. He ripped the photo out of Leyden's hands and threw it back at Peck.

"Listen, I know you miss your mistress, but this is a goddamn photo! Get over it! You don't see me mourning over my damn family or my damn girl!"

Everyone was silent as they watched the scene unfold. No one was used to seeing Matt being so upset. They were about to ask him, but Matt had turned to Burgin.

"And what the fuck is wrong with you?" Matt demanded. "Do you really have to start this bullshit? Isn't it already fucking bad we have to deal with goddamn Japan? Do you really have to pick a fight? Leave it out in the field!"

"What the fuck is up with you?" Leyden yelled back.

Before Matt could answer that, there was a loud whistling sound, and the next thing he knew was that he was seeing a world full of white.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sã, suwatte - Matt was telling him to stay down (apparently, this is how it sounds like)


	8. 8: Okinawa, Sledge

Eugene watched as two of his friends were hit by enemy fire. Leyden was moving, but Matt was not.

"BILL! MATT!" Eugene knew he was yelling their names, but that fucking replacement Hamm and Snafu were holding him back. "Corpsman!"

The three watched as Bill was taken care of, but Matt was laying there, barely breathing. Somehow in someway, Eugene was able to slither out of Hamm's and Snafu's grasp and got to Matt.

Matt looked rough. He looked _shredded_. This wasn't good, not at all. Eugene looked on to him helplessly, trying to think of what his father could do. If he could do that, he might be able to help Matt.

"Don't," Matt let out hoarsely. "There's nothing...nothing you can do."

"Damn it, Matt, don't talk like that!" Eugene snapped. He wasn't in the mood. He found out his dog just died, he's stuck in this hellhole, and now Matt is telling him nothing can be done? Fuck that!

"My...my Ma, she's going to be so pissed off at me," Matt started laughing, blood coming out of his mouth as tears streamed down his face. Was it regret? Fear? Both, perhaps? Eugene couldn't tell you, because he was  blinded by his own tears, as he held his friend in his arms.

"What about the twins?" Eugene asked, and Matt was able to cringe at that.

"Oh, man. Mor--Mor will hit me while Maddie kills..." Matt trailed off. "Can you...tell them I'm so-sorry?"

"Of course," Eugene nodded. "You're one hell of a guy, you know? When no one else was there, you were the one who was. We took advantage of it."

"Yeah," Matt agreed. "You did...you...okay. You're...ok." Matt was now staring up at the sky, eyes wide open. He was no longer breathing. 

Matthew Klein, Jr. was gone.

* * *

 

Matt was known for being a kind, hard worker. Unless you made him mad, Matt was the nicest person you could ever possibly meet. He never took part of mocking replacements, instead he talked to them. Became their friend in an instant. Matt was the kind of guy to like everybody.

Matt's death took a hard toll on the unit. Eugene, Burgin, and Hamm weren't afraid to show their tears. Snafu even let some go, although they weren't noticeable. He sure as hell was gonna miss calling Matt "Kraut".

No one could believe that Matt died. While he was soft, he was tough. While he was shorter than most of the men, his strength made all of it up.

Eugene was currently looking through Matt's bag. Seeing what he had left for supplies, and what could be sent back to his family.

He found the pictures of his family. Eugene couldn't bear to look at any of their faces, not now.

He found a ring. It was small, plain, but it caught Eugene's eye. He wondered where the ring came from, but he would never find an answer for it. No one would.

He found the letters Matt had kept. It looks like Matt had kept every single one that was sent to him. Some he leafed through. There was a drawing from his younger brother that was received months ago. There weren't too many letters written to him by his father, but it looks like his mother took care of that. Morgan wrote about school, and how she was helping out with their local newspaper. Eugene remembered how proud Matt was of his sister.

There most recent letter, the one that was on top, at least, was from Madison, the sister in Europe. This letter looked like it was from January and her handwriting was so shaky, it was almost hard to read.

When Eugene read it, he realized, for the first time, how the ones in Europe were stuck in hell, too. He knew that he shouldn't care about the ones in Europe, but Madison went into such detail (and was able to do so without getting so much censored, Eugene was impressed) about the past few days he was in...he felt sorry for her.

Feeling this sense of guilt, Eugene fished through Matt's bag again, trying to find paper--ah yes, Matt had some--and the pencil he had. Eugene, as much as he could, began writing.

* * *

 

There was a lot of strikeouts and mistakes, but Eugene finally wrote something down for Madison. He wasn't sure if it was ever going to get sent, but he was going to try to get it to her.

Eugene also pocketed the photos Matt had left of his family, and kept his dog tags too. These needed to get back to the Kleins and again, Eugene wasn't sure when these would get sent, but he would make sure they would. He owed Matt.

* * *

 

Although Eugene felt this something spark within him, he was still on Okinwana. In other words, he was still slowly losing his humanity. Becoming more bitter, more empty. 

They've been on this island for sixty-six days now. Sixty-six days of hell. It's been about a week since Leyden was taken off the line and Matt's death. It still hit a rough spot to them all.

The more Snafu talked, the more the others couldn't blame Matt for being annoyed with him, for what seemed like, twenty four/seven. That may have been their friendship, but _God_ , Snafu could not stop egging people on.

Eugene left. Unfortunately for him, Lieutenant Mackenzie, or Lieutenant Mac, ordered him to help out on a mortar round on a nearby enemy position. He had no choice but to follow orders.

Eugene started to climb up the rocks. He turned back to call out for Hamm.

"Hamm! Get a spool," Eugene commanded, before continuing his way up top. Eugene took a step, slipping and sliding down the hill, right into a hole that was filled with murky water. He collided with something, hearing it break. He leaned back and what he saw he did not like.

What he had collided into was a horrifying, decayed skeletal body of a Jap soldier. It's obvious that he had been dead for awhile, a pure sign was all the maggots on hi--

Maggots. Holy shit.

Eugene screamed, pushing himself back and stripping his helmet and jacket off. He hated maggots, Jesus Christ they were awful! He took out his bayonet knife, trying to get all traces of this dead Jap off of him.

"SLEDGE! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?" Lieutenant Mackenzie yelled. "Get the fuck up yes!"

"Yes, sir!" Eugene yelled back through gritted teeth. He climbed his way back to the top, meeting Hamm. He didn't stop for him, however. He just kept moving.

* * *

 

The two met with Mackenzie and the others. The lieutenant was explaining to Eugene how the enemy was moving back to a ridge. He wanted one round on it.

Eugene did what he was told. He studied the area, before calling in the coordinates. The first hit was a miss, the second hit the hut. Eugene told the coordinates that the target was marked, and hangs up. He turns to go back, but then he hears yelling. He turned back to see Jap soldiers running towards them.

"Shit," Eugene whispered to himself, grabbing a rifle. All the men with him get into position as well. Hamm was about to fire, but Eugene stopped him.

"Wait," Eugene advised. "Wait until they're close."

Eugene was the first to fire, taking out a man with a sword. Then the second, the third, and the others joined too.

"Cease fire!" Could be heard in the distance, but Eugene didn't care nor was he paying attention, either. He got the last man down.

The group observed the scene. None of the enemy was moving, except for the last one Eugene had just shot. Frustrated, Eugene got out his sidearm. He was going to make sure every last one of them were dead.

"Jesus, Sledge, leave him, " Hamm said.

"He's a Jap, ain't he?" Eugene retorted, before looking back to his target. It took him three shots, but Eugene finally managed to take him down.

"I said cease fire, goddamn it!" Mackenzie finally arrived. Eugene decided he had enough, grabbing his rifle and leaving.

"I told you to cease fire, what are you doing?" Mackenzie hounded on him.

"Killing Japs," Eugene answered darkly before continuing his way.

"You just gave away our goddamn position!" Mackenzie continued. Eugene stopped and turned back to face the lieutenant again, breathing in a laugh.

"I think they got a pretty good idea where we are."

Mackenzie wasn't having it. "I told you to cease fire, and that you were observing. I see you with a goddamn sidearm!"

Eugene cracked. "We were sent here to kill Japs, weren't we?" he yelled, stepping up to get into the lieutenant's face. "What the hell does a difference make, with the weapon that we use?!"

There was silence. Mackenzie said nothing, showing no emotion. Eugene, however, Eugene was showing as much as he can. He knew he was slipping away. He couldn't stop it.

"I'd use my goddamn hands if I have to," he finished, teeth grinding.

* * *

 

It seemed to rain at nightfall the most, Eugene thought, as he tried to bail out the water from his foxhole. It was futile, seeing as the rain wouldn't stop.

"Screw it," Eugene finally gave up.

"We need some reinforcements up here," Snafu said, loud enough for Eugene to hear over the heavy rainfall. Eugene, irritated, said, "Give it a rest."

"Fuck you, Eugene," Snafu retorted.

"Fuck you, too, Shelton," Eugene replied. 

"Fuck, I'm so fucking tired," Snafu started. "I'm fucking tired of this maggoty-stench, first the order us forward without enough bodies--"

Eugene wasn't going to lie, some days he found Snafu irritated and in this moment, he began to understand why Matt was constantly annoyed with the man from Louisiana.

"Shut up," Eugene said, mostly to himself, as Snafu kept complaining and dropping the F-bomb. "Shut up." Snafu started to yell, and Eugene was getting tired of it.

"Jesus Christ, shut up!" Eugene yelled, turning towards Sledge.

"Fuck you!" Snafu yelled at him.

"Shut up!"

"Fuck you, Sledge!"

"Just shut up, Shelton!"

"Hey Peck!" Private Hamm cut in to the argument. Eugene saw that Peck had finally cracked, taking off his poncho and marched up with his rifle in hand, ready to blow.

"Peck, sit down!" Eugene ordered.

"Come out, you fuckers! Come on!" Peck ignored Eugene completely, and started firing into the enemy lines. Oh no.

"Peck!" Eugene yelled, more worriedly than the last time. Together, Eugene and Hamm ran up to get him.

"Peck, come on! Peck!" Eugene pleaded, as he shielded himself behind a rock from the returning enemy fire, as he tried to grab his ankle to grab his attention. 

"Eugene!" Snafu grabbed the redhead back, as Hamm collected Peck. The two men watched as Hamm threw Peck down...before getting two bullets cut through the young replacement. Hamm fell to the ground, lifeless. Eugene's mind briefly flickered to Matt, and then someone else, although he wouldn't register who until much later.

Eugene's eyes flickered from Hamm's corpse, eyes wide open and lifeless, before turning to Peck.

"You stupid bastard!" Eugene screamed, lunging out of Snafu's grasp and onto Peck. He started hitting up. "You stupid, filthy bastard! You fucking idiot!" He was beyond pissed. He was determined to beat the life out of Peck, when Snafu managed to get Eugene off of him, before attending to Peck. Eugene couldn't believe it.

"Hey! What the fuck happened?" Oh, great. It was Mackenzie. Fucking Mackenzie. Eugene was done with him, too. However, he found that he was able to answer the lieutenant.

"Hamm's dead. Peck's gone."

Mackenzie understood. He ordered two corpsmen to take Peck off the field. _  
_

_Good riddance,_ Eugene couldn't help but think. _Good-fucking-riddance._

* * *

 

They moved on the next day. They always did.

Eugene watched as his comrades slaughtered the Japanese. They used whatever they had on them: bullets, flamethrowers, tank rounds...they used all that they had.

To the average outsider, a civilian, what they were doing was awful. Monstrous, as someone told Eugene sometime later. He didn't care, not now. He had completely disconnected himself. He was done. He didn't care if he shot a man down. He didn't care if he killed. He just did not give a fuck anymore. All he wanted to do was kill and be done.

It was later, when Eugene became to come back. It wasn't a huge leap, but rather a tiny, very tiny baby step.

Eugene and Snafu were observing the warfare below, when they heard a cry. It was an infant's cry, inside the hut the duo were standing near. The two glanced at it. Eugene looked back to Snafu.

"It might be a trap," he said, no emotion in his voice.

However, the two marines could no longer ignore it. Slowly, they made their way up the steps and inside, guns ready.

When he first stepped in, Eugene saw no one, but the cries were getting louder. He ventured farther in. That's when Eugene saw it: there were two dead bodies, one man and one woman, and a very loud and alive infant. Eugene wasn't too sure how old it was, as he has had no experience with children, but the child was probably close to a year. It was screaming, and Eugene couldn't blame him. His mother was dead, shirt cut open, throat slashed.

All Eugene could do was stare down at the child. It was so young, so pure, and it had no idea what the hell was going on. It was ignorant to all of the horrors of the world. He could feel a breeze, and looked up, cold horror filling him. This hut reminded him of the one that he had ordered to be hit. He couldn't help but think: _I did this._

Snafu, who had been beside him, seemed to know what Eugene was thinking. "Lots of people fire mortars up here."

"It doesn't matter," Eugene replied. It was a terrible excuse.

"What the hell is the matter with you two?" Lieutenant Mackenzie asked aloud, pushing his way through them. He bent down, picking the child up. Eugene moved back, unsure what was to happen, but watched as the lieutenant exit the room, Snafu following suit.

Eugene stayed for a moment, staring down at the deceased woman. He left, knowing there was nothing that could be done, when he heard a slight chiming sound and a breathy voice. _Someone else is in here._

Eugene followed the noise, rifle in hand, slowly. He followed the sound, and in a different corner of the hut he saw a woman. She was older than the first one he had seen. Her face was swollen, dried tear marks strained on her face, and she was struggling to breathe and kept repeating something softly, but Eugene didn't know what she was saying. Her abdomen was bloody, staining through her shirt. She starting to raise the cloth and Eugene raised his firearm, unsure of what was to happen.

The woman wasn't dangerous, Eugene soon realized, as she revealed that her stomach was ripped apart and open. She reached out towards him and tentative manner, Eugene slowly moved  his way towards her. When he was close enough, the woman grabbed the muzzle of his rifle, putting it against her forehead. She motioned for him to pull the trigger, and he almost did. He almost did.

Eugene stopped himself. For the woman, it may have been easier for her, but it was harder for him. He couldn't help but think back to the other dead woman in the next room, and about the mortar rounds. He didn't want to kill this woman.

Eugene took the rifle out of her grip before setting it down on the floor. Next, he slowly eased himself onto the ground, next to the elderly woman. Carefully, he cradled her in his arms, stroking her hair. The woman stared up at him as she continued to struggle for air. The woman weakly pulled him into an embrace, and Eugene accepted it. She died in his arms, dropping a child's toy that jingled. That was the sound he had heard moments before.

The woman had helped Eugene gain a sense of his humanity back. He was no longer in his numbness, not completely at least.

A lot of the men didn't share the same compassion as Eugene, however. Once he had left the hut and rejoined the others, he had to watch as three idiotic replacements, murder a surrendering teenage boy. Oh, Eugene was mad.

"Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?" Eugene grabbed the replacement who had shot the boy. "You feel good? Huh? Killing your first Jap? He's a damn kid!"

"What's your problem? He's a Jap! We're here to kill Japs, ain't we?" the replacement shoved Eugene away from him before catching up with his friends to loot of the deceased boy.

Eugene watched them with wide eyes, with shock. The replacement's words reminded Eugene of what he had all but screamed towards Lieutenant Mackenzie just days prior. It was a nasty feeling.

The replacements found nothing of value on the kid. It didn't surprise Eugene, who couldn't help but feel a small grain of satisfaction as the men were disappointed.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all hate me so much right now. I know you do. I'm really sorry it has to be this way. I didn't want it to be like this, but tbh, I knew I was always going to kill of Matt. Sometimes, you just have to show the devastating reality. Ah, man, I had to stop so many times writing these past few chapters, because it was going to be hard.
> 
> If you all wondered why Aya, Matt's dream girl, was not going to appear in this...this is why. This was exactly why. But, if you want to know what happened to her, you can message me and I'll tell you. Or, if you all preferred that I write it in the next author's note, I will! I won't be able to publish that chapter later, anyway. Sadly, my spring break is ended and I'm having a lot of projects and such coming up, I know I'll be busy throughout the next month. Life sucks.
> 
> The next chapter will be the last chapter of this. It'll cover the last five minutes of episode nine, and like, the first ten minutes of episode ten? Afterwards, you will all find me updating my Band of Brothers story, and wait in agony for those chapters. lol.
> 
> Well, that's it. See you all in chapter nine.
> 
> P.S. I just realized, this story has almost as many parts as The Pacific itself lol.
> 
> P.S.S. I was really terrified of publishing this chapter omg


	9. epilogue: 1946

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo this is gonna be super short and kind of ended a bit weird (cliffhanger lol), because it’s the epilogue and I have more planned post this. Some of it has already been hinted, but I’m not saying anymore until I’m ready. For now, though, I will mark this complete. Hope you all had a great time reading this story...and sorry that I killed Matt lmao.

The war was over.

 

After months of hard fighting and loss, the war was finally over. August 15, 1945 was the date that the Japanese Army surrendered and World War II had officially ended.  


 

Even with the war over, most of K Company were not able to go home until the beginning of February. They were stationed in China for their plus sixth months of duty. After they did time in China, Sledge, Burgin, and Snafu were sent on a train home, running through the southern states.

 

Sledge watched as Snafu had failed to pick up a girl. To be fair, Sledge wouldn’t want to get with the man, either, if someone used that pickup line on him. Snafu and Burgin joined Sledge at the table. 

 

“Snafu got pinked on the train home,” Burgin said, as he placed the bottles of beer he had picked up on the table.

 

“If we’d been here six months ago, that broad would have given us all blow jobs,” Snafu stated. Then he shook his head. “Lied to again. This entire division didn’t do that “plus six months” horseshit we did.”

 

“They got home a week after V-J--” Burgin was explaining to Sledge, “parades, pretty girls. 1946, the party’s all over. Not so much as a complimentary beer. Somebody had to stay and clean up after the war.”

 

It was silent between the three marines. They knew that Burgin’s words held on to some truth. The war had officially ended sixth months ago, and they were just now getting home. There wasn’t much of a celebration for them.

 

“I suppose I’m gonna have to get a job, too,” Burgin added a moment later as he began to eat.

 

“Doin’ what?” Snafu asked. Burgin shrugged.

 

“I don’t know. Anything between digging ditches and owning a bank!”

 

The men laughed over that.

 

“First, I got to get Florence home.”

 

Snafu and Sledge stopped and stared at the man.

 

“Florence from Melbourne?” Sledge asked.

 

“Mhm,” Burgin nodded.

 

Snafu was in disbelief. “You shippin’ her all the way over here, and this is the first we hear about it?”

 

“Come on, Snaf. That was in Okinawa. Figured it would be bad luck to talk about it then,” Burgin explained. Alright, fair enough.

 

“Well, when is she coming?” Sledge asked.

 

“I cabled her, but we’ve been at sea,” Burgin answered, a worrisome edge started to creep in his tone. “I guess we’ll find out soon if I’m getting married or not. What about you, Sledgehammer?”

 

Sledge briefly pondered on it as he spread butter on the bread roll he had picked up not too long ago. “I’m just hoping that this Florence girl comes to her senses,” he joked.

 

“Got a job lined up in Mobile?”

 

Sledge shook his head. “No. No job, no girl, no plans.” 

 

“How long do you think that’s gonna last?” Snafu asked.

 

“As long as the sheriff lets me,” Sledge replied, as he gnawed on his bread roll.

 

Snafu would have said more, but he began to eye the girl that he was trying to pick up earlier.

  
“I’m gonna get that girl.”

 

Sledge rolled his eyes. “Leave her alone.”

 

Snafu was determined. “You boys watch. I’m gonna get that girl.”

 

“You’ve been saying that about every girl since San Diego,” Sledge retorted. They all chuckled over it, before Burgin became somber.

 

“I’m thinking about visiting Matt’s family,” he said. Snafu and Sledge looked back up to him.

 

“In Ohio?” Snafu asked. “So soon when you just got home?”

 

“I wrote to them a few months back, telling them that we knew him. Mrs. Klein offered for me and any of us to go up to visit. I just need to ring them first to let them know,” Burgin explained. He stopped for a moment, remembering their fallen comrade. “I miss that man.”

 

“We all do,” Snafu said. “As much as he was annoying with his good morals and shit, the kraut was a good man.” He looked towards Sledge. “Say, didn’t you write to his sister?”

  
“The one in Europe,” Sledge confirmed. “Haven’t heard from her or nothing.” He couldn’t help but feel disappointed, but there was nothing he could do about it. Maybe she didn’t want his sympathy, that was fine with him.

 

Burgin must have sensed it. “I’m sure she’s been busy. After all, she’s a corpsman. She may have not have even gotten it yet, or you haven’t gotten her reply.”

* * *

 

Sledge was able to say farewell to Burgin when they stopped in Jewett, but he was unable to say the same to Snafu when they had reached to Louisiana. He had fallen asleep during the ride and Snafu didn’t wake him up. He couldn’t help but feel hurt. They would not talk to each other again until almost forty years later.

 

Sledge didn’t let it bother him too much when the train pulled into Mobile. When he stepped out of the train and onto the ground of Mobile’s train station, he was just grateful to be home. Especially when he saw his best friend, Sidney Phillips, standing next to his car waiting for him. Sledge grinned, throwing his bag to him.

 

“You gonna take this for me or what?”

 

“Good to see you, Eugene.”


End file.
